


Unusual

by radhaj



Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, Familiars, Fantasy, M/M, Magic, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 13:00:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6240316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radhaj/pseuds/radhaj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sho is out on a mission. Jun tags along. Nino wants nothing to do with it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unusual

**Author's Note:**

> This was my entry for a Sakumiya exchange, but I think it's about time for me to post it properly as mine :)

 

"Today is going to be the day," Sho stated rather out of the blue and, startled, Jun raised his eyes to stare at _him_ instead of the spoon that was lazily stirring their breakfast in the kettle that hung over the fire.

"Senpai?" The pretty man inquired, obviously puzzled by the declaration.

"The search will be finished today," Sho elaborated, clutching the empty bowl in his hands a little more tightly than was completely necessary, "I can _feel_ it. I know I've said this before, Jun-kun, but this time it's really it. The link has been buzzing softly inside me ever since I woke up this morning."

His traveling companion didn't seem convinced and, noting his guarded gaze, Sho knew what was going on in that pretty head. They've been out on the road for five months today. Jun likely (and rightfully so) thought that his friend was getting desperate and was trying to predict his success from signs that weren't really there. Sho couldn't blame him. But he knew he was not mistaken this time.

They've set out from their college together with at least fifteen other graduates, all on the same mission - to find their familiars. It was a necessary rite of passage for everyone after their studies in the Mage College - although they left with all the knowledge they needed about every spell that was within their field of expertise and no one even _entered_ the college without some amount of magical power, it was a long-known fact that no human possessed enough magic to practice the art from day to day properly. Every mage needed a bond with a magical creature to access their true power, and that was where The Fae came in.

Legend told that the creatures were once created by a powerful mage that wanted to provide his apprentices with readily available familiars. Whether that was true or not, the race now flourished in the wild, mysterious and elusive, and it was known that for every human that was born with magical abilities, there was a fae out there that they were destined to bond with. There was even a spell developed that awakened the connection between any mage and their future companion the moment they graduated, to help them find their destined familiar. Of course, even with that, it often took years before they were found. Five months was nothing compared to other, completely normal durations of such searches.

But Sho had never been normal. He finished the most prestigious and challenging study course the college offered, one that took two years longer than any other. He did it with perfect scores. He was admired by his juniors and peers alike. Even some of his professors had started asking for his professional opinion about their research as his graduation date neared and his intelligence got properly acknowledged. He was often called an overachiever, and although Sho understandably disliked the title, he never bothered denying it.

So he had been sure he would do amazing in his search for a familiar too. Perhaps even break the record of the quickest one, which would have been amazing. He had always been eager to finally have access to his true reserves of magic and then set up his practice, start _truly_ living his life and following his dreams. And at first it had seemed it would actually happen too. The spell that helped the search varied in its effects from person to person. For some, like Jun, who had ended up simply tagging along with his most admired senior, it only gave a vague sense of understanding about what they had to do to _eventually_ come across their familiar. But for Sho... Oh, the moment the spell hit him he had immediately felt a very obvious, strong pull that gave him a very concrete direction. Surely, he had thought, with a lead as clear like that it shouldn't take longer than a month or two at most?

But they... _he_ had been at it for five months now. Two of which had been spent in these particular woods, roaming seemingly completely aimlessly. Sometimes not moving at all for days as the pull seemed to go haywire. He had started feeling like he was being led around by the nose, like his destiny was teasing, making fun of him...

But today... Today, the link didn't even feel like a sense of direction anymore. It felt a like a sense of _purpose_.

"Come on, Jun-kun," he spoke then, waving his hand so the kettle would levitate away from the fire and the spoon started portioning the food out into their bowls, "Let's eat and pack this all up. I feel we'll have to do a bit of walking today."

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

It was hours since lunch passed and they had yet to see any sign that _any_ magical being was anywhere near them. Jun kept throwing glances his way, opening his mouth to say something before thinking better of it, but Sho paid it no mind. He felt neither worried nor frustrated. He felt giddy, excited by the long-awaited conclusion he knew was finally coming. He didn't even need the ever-growing buzz of the link inside him to tell him this.

"Sho-san... we've been going in circles," his traveling companion finally blurted out what was on his mind, obviously losing his patience. But he still looked apologetic after doing so, as if afraid to upset the other man by the observation. To his surprise, Sho just grinned.

"I know," the older mage answered succinctly. The man following half a step behind him frowned.

"You know?" he asked, a little incredulous, "Then... Sho-san, don't you think it has to be a sign that it's too soon? Obviously your connection isn't leading you properly yet."

"Jun-kun," Sho interrupted, the grin on his face not wavering even a little, " _Think_. Haven't you noticed we've been going in circles for the better part of two months by now. It has not been quite as obvious before, but we were. The fact that we're now doing it so clearly means he's getting bored of the game and is probably about to reveal himself."

One of Jun's eyebrows went up in question.

"He?..."

"That damned familiar of mine, apparently," Sho groaned out the conclusion he had come to over the past few hours, after thinking about it so much. He didn't really feel annoyed, however, but rather amused, "I hadn't been sure that it was him doing it on _purpose_ earlier. He shouldn't have had any way of knowing I'm searching for him, after all. But it's more than obvious now that I've simply been led on a wild chase. Apparently he's someone who finds such things fun."

"...if he does," the younger man started again after thinking about Sho's words for a few moments, "Then what makes you think he's about to show up _now_. He's a goddamn _Fae,_ for all we know he'll continue doing this for months to come, all while he's laughing his ass off at us, watching from some squirrel hole or something and-"

"Are you sure you're not confusing Fae with Fairies now, human?" a drawling, slightly nasal voice interrupted Jun's tirade from somewhere and the two mages tensed up immediately, looking around themselves and trying to pinpoint its source, "I've _been_ told I'm quite petite by some, but a _squirrel hole_? Wouldn't even be able to fit my head in that! Could cram in at least twelve fairies in one, however. _Have_ in fact. The little bastards can be really annoying. Ah, fun times..."

Still unable to spot the speaker, the two men just continued looking around helplessly. Sho finally felt a hint of annoyance - he would have expected he'd just _know_ where to look. But soon, with a huge sigh, their interloper took pity on them.

"Up _here_ you great doofuses," he said, and Sho and Jun looked up in unison at the words, immediately zeroing in on a slender figure that was sitting on a high-up branch of a nearby tree, one leg dangling down carelessly while the other was hugged tightly to the boy's chest. Sho felt his heart slam against his rib-cage a couple of times in excitement as he laid his eyes on his familiar for the first time. The fae _was_ petite, even for his kind. Sharp eyes were glaring down at them from a pretty face with a cute button-nose and a pointy chin. Slightly shaggy, dark hair were just barely long enough to be tied together at the scruff of the boy's neck and the clothes he was wearing were remarkably... well, normal, actually. However, altogether, the fae gave off an aura of displeasure. And not the sort that a trickster showed when their playtime was over, but rather a real, deep-rooted displeasure that made Sho waver for a moment before taking a step forward. No matter what, there was no mistaking. This boy was his destined familiar. The key to his future. He would simply have to deal with whatever the fae's problem was.

"I'm Sakurai Sho," he introduced himself, remembering his manners, "I've been looking for you," he stated the rather obvious fact and the man above them snorted in reaction.

"I know that," he mocked, "I’m Ninomiya Kazunari and we have a bit of a problem because I really, _really_ had no wish to be found by you," he revealed and Sho blinked. He had never heard about a fae being reluctant to join a mage before. He hadn’t been taught how to deal with this, "Now, I've noticed you seem to be too stubborn for your own good, seeing as you haven't given up after months of wandering around here, but I figured I'd try to ask anyway. Would you mind just, you know, forgetting you saw me and just leaving me alone?"

Honestly, Sho didn't even think he needed to answer the question. So he completely ignored it and voiced one of his own.

"Why ever would you _want_ to avoid this?"

"Why ever wouldn't I?" the other shot right back. A million reasons came to Sho's mind immediately and he didn't wait before sharing some of them.

"To take your rightful place at my side? To fulfill your... _our_ fated purpose?" he asked, feeling like he shouldn't even have to list these things. Weren't they obvious to the boy?

"Oh, and what a _wonderful_ purpose that is for me," the fae answered, sarcasm so thick in his voice that it was practically dripping, "But fine. It's not like I have much of a choice about this, do I? I've tried my best to avoid this but I failed. Still, at least do it on my terms then. Prove how much you want this. If you want to secure your bond with me then you'll have to come over here because I am not going down for it."

The challenge made Sho freeze again. Something told him this was not a coincidence, that the petite man knew exactly what it was he was asking for. Climb a tree, and so high at that? It was like something from the mage's worst nightmares. His worst fear. But if that was what his familiar required from him to get his consent to the bond then...

Before he had time to change his mind, Sho abruptly turned around and stepped back to Jun. He had almost forgotten about the other mage being here while he had been talking, but now he just mutely took off his bags and handed them over to the man in preparation.

"Sho-san... are you sur-"

"Jun," Sho interrupted, shutting the man up. He didn't need to say anything else, the other mage understood. So he just turned away, walked to the tree that his elusive future was hanging out in and took a deep breath.

He had obviously never done this before, but at least he didn't lack the physical strength needed to haul himself upwards, nor did it take him that long to figure out the mechanics. Of course, it didn't help that his palms started sweating from the moment he touched the first branch, nor that he started feeling dizzy if he as much as _thought_ of looking down. But slowly and surely, he made progress. Breathing evenly, telling himself that this would be worth it, repeating it in his mind and again to stop himself from thinking too deeply about what _exactly_ it was he was doing and how high up from the ground he was at any given moment until he was finally high enough that if he just reached out, he could have _touched_ the boy. And that was all that was needed for the bond to be created, he knew. Holding his breath Sho looked up to meet the fae's eyes. The man looked back at him calmly, almost coldly for a brief moment... and then suddenly his lips curled into a smirk. Before Sho could realize what was happening, the creature moved and weightlessly leaped from the branch he had been perched on onto one of a nearby tree, leaving Sho with an arm uselessly halfway outstretched.

...

"What the hell! You bastard, you cheated!" Jun's voice, full of infuriated indignation reached them from bellow while Sho was still too dumb-stricken at what just happened to even think of protesting the unfairness of it.

"I never promised to stay still," the cheeky fae almost sing-songed while Sho tremblingly drew himself up onto the branch that the other had just sat on. The mage's mind was buzzing. His goal had been so close and now...

He felt sick when considering climbing down, never mind climbing another tree afterwards. He gripped the branch under him harder and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to try and harden his resolve. When he opened his eyes again, the fae was staring at him curiously.

"What are you..." the boy started and then widened his eyes when he saw Sho inching down the branch he was on, trying to get as close as possible to the fae's current position, "What the... you idiot, you'll never make it!" The mocking and the laughter in the voice quickly disappeared, replaced by urgency and almost-panic, "Don't you even-"

But Sho didn't wait any longer, didn't _think_ and simply jumped as hard as he could.

He never made it. Of course. He didn't even come close and then he was falling through the air, with an absurd calm in his heart even as he heard a string of curse words above him, a scream from below and saw the ground coming closer at an impossible speed. It only lasted a few fractions of a second, but suddenly something came barreling at him from the side in mid-air, catching him with a flash of bright light before they both came crashing down onto the ground, painfully, rolling over a few times, but not nearly as hard as Sho _should_ have when falling from such a height.

The reckless mage hissed in pain and struggled to open his eyes, vaguely aware of Jun yelling something as he ran towards him. His savior, in the meantime, hurriedly turned him over to his back and Sho saw his familiar's wide-eyed face hovering above his.

"You moron! What were you even thinking?!!" the fae screamed at him as he checked him over for injuries in a panicky rush. But Sho just chuckled, sounding a little crazy in the situation.

" _I got you_ ," he stated happily, as if it explained everything. And then promptly lost his consciousness.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sho woke up in an unfamiliar place to an unfamiliar face. His everything hurt and for the brief, painful time that he stayed awake, he questioned his own sanity over doing what he had, before remembering that it had worked out exactly as he had thought it would. His familiar had caught him and, in the process, by touching him, did what was required for their pre-destined bond to snap right into place, causing a flash of magical light. Talk about dramatic.

So the pain was worth it but _hell_ , did it _hurt._

“Sleep. You’re safe here,” an unfamiliar voice bid him and he gladly did.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

The next time he awoke, Jun was sitting beside him, on a stool next to his bed. The moment the younger mage noticed he was awake, his face was flooded with relief but he tried to hide it by furrowing his eyebrows disapprovingly.

“ _You_ ,” he started unforgivingly, “Are the _craziest_ man I’ve ever had the misfortune to know. And here I always thought you to be admirably cool and level-headed!”

Sho just chuckled, the words failing to shame him.

“Does that mean you’re disillusioned and no longer idolize me, Jun-kun?” he asked and the other instantly flushed.

“Shut up,” he hissed, embarrassed, and got right back to the subject, “And tell me what the hell was going on in your head when you thought it was a great idea to _jump off a fucking tree_?”

Sho briefly considered telling Jun that he couldn’t both shut up and tell him something at the same time, but noting his friend’s delicate mood, decided against it after all.

“Well, firstly I was thinking about how there was a magical being before me to whom it would be a child’s play to save me fast enough if he was so inclined,” he explained casually and with a small smile still dancing on his lips, “And secondly, I thought about how the link I had to said magical creature was letting me know that he would, without a doubt, do it. And he did. And now we’re bonded.”

It sounded simple enough when put like that. Still insane, but simple. Jun stared at him for a minute, thinking it over, before sighing and shaking his head.

“Your freakily strong link might have been right about his inclinations,” he allowed then, sounding tired, “But I think you failed to calculate how his disbelief at what you were doing would affect his reaction time. You hit your head pretty badly you know.”

For the first time, Sho cringed a bit and had no excuse to offer.

“How long was I out?” he asked, “And where are we?”

“Almost two days. It’s late afternoon right now. And… we’re at a Fae village,” Jun answered, smirking when Sho was startled at the second revelation, “Nino – that’s the name of your boy, by the way, in case you forgot – offered to bring you here after your little tumble. You were lucky the entrance to it was so close by and he was willing to lead us to it, to get you to one of the healers. The whole village is in some sort of pocket dimension in the woods and no human can enter without a fae guiding them inside. The security is high. They have to be very careful here, and for good reason,” the other mage said in a tone of voice that immediately captured Sho’s attention.

“What do you mean?” the older man asked and it was obvious that Jun had set him up for the question on purpose by the way he immediately launched into an explanation.

“Apparently,” he started, lowering his voice as if afraid to be overheard, “There are frequent kidnappings of The Fae by humans. Some mages whose real familiars died supposedly think they might be able to find a replacement among the race. And… there are humans, born without magic but craving it, that misguidedly believe they might get some powers if only they got their hands on a fae. It is horrible.”

Sho stared at his friend disbelievingly, his stomach churning at what he heard. If this was true, then was it really weird that his familiar had been so unwilling to go with him? It was far weirder that, as far as Sho had heard, most other mages _didn’t_ run into such mistrust when seeking out their companions.

“I’ve never heard of such things,” he whispered, horrified, “Jun, why haven’t I heard of any of this?” he asked, but the younger man was just shaking his head.

“I haven’t either, but I’m not really surprised about that. Humans tend to try and cover up their dirtiest secrets. It’s easier for the College to hide it than to address it as an issue that needs solving, isn’t it? Besides, as far as I understood, even most fae are unaware of this. Their elders hide it so the chosen ones wouldn’t be afraid to go and fulfill their destiny. They’re all cautioned against wandering outside their villages without a good reason, but not told why. Some of the more clever ones or ones whose loved-ones become victims figure it out though. Like your boy, for example. He was the one that told me while we were traveling here.”

Sho wanted to ask if Jun meant his familiar figured it out because he was clever or because he had personally lost someone in such a manner, but for some reason he was afraid to hear the answer. So he just pushed the entire issue away for now.

“You’ve talked with him a lot?” he asked, trying not to sound too put out as he was suddenly very aware of the lack of his cheeky fae in the room. He could feel that he was nearby through the bond, but not much else. Jun saw right through him, however.

“Don’t worry, Sho-san. He’s still not thrilled about the whole deal, but his attitude has thawed out quite a bit since you pulled that stunt of yours. He hung around while you were unconscious and I’m sure he’ll visit again. And didn’t I mention we’ve been here for two days? Of course I’ve talked to him. I’ve talked with quite a few people here since I was stuck anyway.”

Sho had the shame to look a bit apologetic at that.

“Sorry about dragging you into this, Jun-kun,” he said, which surprisingly caused the younger man to burst out laughing.

“Oh don’t be sorry,” he waved his worries off, “It’s a Fae village, can you imagine a more interesting place to get stuck at? And… Do you remember the reason I came with you after graduation in the first place?”

A little confused at the random-sounding question, Sho nodded obliviously.

“You told me you didn’t have any better clue on what to do after the spells were cast, so you might as well tag along with me,” he answered. Jun nodded, but then continued looking expectantly at him and Sho frowned. But then it suddenly hit him and his eyes widened impossibly, “Oh. Ohhh. You don’t say?..” he asked eagerly and the other simply let out another laugh, which was answer enough.

“Mine’s a lot less thorny than yours, Sho-san. I got it easy, while you still have your work cut out for you. Now excuse me. I think I’ll try and convince a certain someone to pay you a visit while you’re actually awake.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

His boy, as Jun had taken to calling the small fae, came into the room just as the round-faced healer (whom Sho now recognized as the stranger that had told him it was safe to sleep during his previous brief period of wakefulness) was finishing his check-up on him. When Sho’s familiar stepped in, the unidentified so far fae immediately turned to face him and grinned.

“Ah, Nino. I was just finishing up,” he said happily, “He’s healing up nicely. As long as he gets more proper sleep tonight, he’ll probably be able to get up and walk around by tomorrow.”

“Your idea of a healing process is always just a lot of sleep, Oh-chan, are you sure you’re qualified to do this?” the newcomer asked in a drawl, keeping his eyes strictly on the healer. Sho was convinced Nino avoided looking at him on purpose.

“You were the one who chose to bring him to me and not someone who’s more qualified in the first place,” the healer pointed out amiably and earned himself a half-hearted glare, “Now you behave and don’t upset my patient, alright?” he made sure before leaving the room and barely even reacting when Nino groped his ass on the way out. Sho’s eyes bulged a bit and he felt an unpleasant tug in his chest that he refused to inspect more closely right then, but he decided against commenting. Not when the boy finally raised his eyes to him after they were left alone.

“He’s a slightly weird fellow, isn’t he?” Sho tried to start some sort of conversation after half a minute of very uncomfortable silence.

“Considering he stayed awake for this whole exchange, I can tell you that you don’t even know half of it,” Nino answered him, awkwardly lingering close to the door, as if to make sure he’d be able to quickly escape if the meeting turned sour, “Your friend bonded him, you know,” he then revealed and Sho blinked.

“ _He’s_ the one Jun meant?” He asked as he tried to imagine his very driven friend and the seemingly lethargic healer working together in any sort of capacity. Well… he supposed he didn’t know enough about the fae that had healed him to pass judgment. Jun had seemed very satisfied when he had mentioned it, and that was all that mattered.

Silence descended between them again, but this time Nino made use of the pause by shuffling over closer to Sho’s bed and then gingerly sitting down on the stool. He looked tense and ready to bolt away at a second’s notice, and Sho knew he wasn’t making it any easier for him to relax by the way he was staring at him so intensely. But how could he not? Sho had already thought the boy was beautiful when he saw him from a distance, partially hidden away by the twilight of the forest and tree leaves. Now that he was actually seeing him from so close…

It was weird. Nino’s presence made him feel weird. It was like his magic… no, his very _soul_ was reacting to it and although Sho knew part of it _was_ the fact that Nino was the key to bringing out his true power and potential, there was also something more to it. Something that Sho couldn’t quite put his finger on yet.

“Aren’t you going to try it?” the fae finally broke the silence between them, waking Sho up from his thoughts. The mage, not understanding what the boy meant, just made a confused sound, “Your magic. I can feel it, you know. It’s weird. It feels like it’s mine too. Like a part of _me_ is inside you. Aren’t you curious to try it out now that we’re bonded?”

Sho was, actually, but he hadn’t wanted to just dive right into it presumptuously. But now that Nino pretty much encouraged him…

“May I?” he asked, extending his hand towards his familiar and tried not to gasp at the tingling sensation that ran through him the moment Nino grasped it with his own, smaller one. It felt so _right_. Of course, direct touch wasn’t necessary for Sho to make use of the access to his magic that Nino’s presence granted him, but the mage had heard that it made things much easier at first. He took a deep breath and tried to think of something he could do to test his abilities, something that he could do safely within the walls of this room.

He had expected to need to utter a spell, but the moment an idea came to his mind, his magic reacted naturally. Sho heard Nino’s sharp intake of breath as a brilliant light show exploded around them. Colors and patterns swirling, filling the room in a melodious dance, with no particular purpose other than creating absolute beauty, such as Sho had never seen before in his life…

Magic like this… What the two of them could produce together was bigger and grander than anything that has existed before. Sho was _sure_ of it, convinced that he wasn’t just being magnanimous by thinking so highly of himself...

Nino suddenly snatched his hand away and the lights were gone in a blink of an eye. Wide-eyed, Sho turned to look at the boy who was clenching his hands into fists.

“It’s not fair,” the fae whispered, “I don’t want it. I never wanted this. I don’t want to find it beautiful. So why is it so great? Why can’t I at least have a choice about how I feel about this? Why is there something inside me that dictates that I _need_ to do this for you?!”

Sho was a little shocked by the outburst. Couldn’t Nino see how special what they just did was? Or... was it that he _did_ and for some reason it made him resent it even more? The mage knew it was time to get to the bottom of this.

“Why do you react in such a way?” he asked carefully, trying not to upset the fae further, “Going as far as to avoid being found by me for months… Does being a mage’s familiar seem so terrible to you? I would think it’s nice to have such a clear purpose of existence. People spend their whole lives searching for some meaning and the two of us were just _handed_ one,” he said, trying to let the other know he truly wanted to understand. Nino just let out a humorless laugh.

“A purpose? What happiness am I supposed to draw from the knowledge that I’ve been born to simply become someone’s tool?” he sneered accusingly and Sho frowned.

“You’re not going to just be a _tool_ -‘ he tried to protest but Nino was having none of it.

“Really? You said it yourself, didn’t you, after we bonded. That you _got_ me. Like I was some sort of… _thing_ that you finally got your hands on,” he ranted, and as wrong as his way of viewing it seemed to Sho, the mage could find no way to interrupt without sounding dismissive, “The way you mages just set out to find us, like you’re _entitled_ to us… Like we’re some sort of prize for graduating that college of yours. They might seem like they’re suffering from a purposeless existence to you, but I’d much rather be one of my kind that was never meant to bond to anyone.”

Sho was truck silent by the words. Protests were at the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t quite voice them as his mind went into an overdrive, thinking about what Nino had said. Was it really true? Was he and his fellow mages so bad? He wanted to deny it, to say that of course he understood that The Fae were their own beings, just like humans were, and that their lives only belonged to _them_ , but…

But if he honestly thought back to it… To the way everyone always talked about _their_ familiars, about how there was a fae somewhere in the world that was just for _them_ and how much _they_ would be able to do once they found them…

Suddenly, Sho felt like a ball of something nasty and nauseating was lodged in his throat, preventing him from speaking out in his and his colleagues’ defense.

“What are you going to do now that you found me?” Nino changed the subject suddenly. Sho glanced at him, but he couldn’t read the fae at all. What did the smaller man think was the reason for his lack of response? Sho swallowed and shook the questions off, attempting to answer the new question instead.

“…I always thought I’d just set up a practice back home. Something to help people out. Make the world a better place. I know it sounds naïve, but it had always felt like the right thing to do. That _I_ actually would be able to make a difference,” he said quietly and Nino chuckled coldly.

“And I’ll just be going with you, right?”

Sho started to nod but then blanched as he recognized the presumptuousness of it. He had truly never questioned it before, the fact that his familiar would just be with him once they bonded.

“Figures,” Nino smiled contemptuously, “You know this is my _home_. I was born here, grew up here… I like it here. I don’t have a family anymore, but I have friends that are as dear as such. And it’s the same for all of our kind. Do any of you mages even consider any of that before tearing us away from it?” he asked. Sho knew he wasn’t actually expecting an answer. He felt cold from the conversation, “Of course not. You don’t think of us as having our own lives, our own desires. All you care is about our place in _yours._

“And worst of all is that I can’t even hate you for it,” the fae continued sadly after a brief moment of silence, “In fact, from the first time I set eyes on you I…”

He trailed off and grimaced.

“Che,” he spat, turning his face to the side before standing up and strolling dejectedly back to the door, “Sleep. Doctor’s orders.”

And with that he was gone and Sho was left alone with his thoughts.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Ohno, as Sho finally learned his healer to be called, woke him up the next morning for another check-up and released him from strict bed-rest finally. His injuries meant that he wouldn’t be able to leave the village for a few more days, but he could at least walk around outside and look around the village. This was definitely a welcome change, considering Sho had spent most of the night tossing around in his bed, plagued by thoughts that Nino’s words caused him to have. It was nice to finally get out of the room.

He ran into Jun on his way out, and the other mage showed him around a little. The Fae were very tightly connected to nature, so it was no surprise to Sho when he saw that Nino’s race lived in dwelling set among huge trees, fashioned in a way that everything seemed to just blend in with the forest. The settlement just oozed with peace and tangible harmony with nature.

As they walked around, Jun introduced him to a few of the folk that he got to know, and everyone greeted the older mage with kindness and smiles. It didn’t take long for Sho to realize that Nino’s attitude towards them was unique and that no one else seemed to share the petite man’s resentment of mages around here.

Or so he thought, until he finally caught sight of his familiar himself. The small fae was conversing with two others, one of which Sho recognized as a slightly less sleepy-looking than usual Ohno.

The third in the small group was a tall, lanky fae that appeared to be very upset as he spoke something to his two friends. Sho couldn’t make out any words from this distance and figured he should perhaps come closer and introduce himself. If this was one of the friends that Nino had mentioned were like family to him, then getting to know the man would perhaps be a good step towards starting to patch things up with the familiar.

But the moment he was about to go through it, the lanky man seemed to sense Sho’s eyes on himself and looked around. The moment he zeroed in on the mage, his whole demeanor became so cold that Sho felt a shiver go down his spine. He stopped in his tracks and witnessed as Nino followed the stranger’s gaze and saw him as well. The slender fae then spoke a couple of words to his two companions and then walked over to Sho and Jun to intercept their approach. He didn’t bother with a greeting.

“Let’s speak somewhere else,” he stated immediately, making to lead them in a different direction. But Sho wavered.

“Isn’t that a friend of yours? Shouldn’t I-“ he started, but Nino cut him off.

“Masaki is the nicest and sweetest person you’ll ever meet. He grew up with Oh-chan and myself. The three of us are the only family we have, even if we’re not related by blood. But now you came and brought J here with you,” the fae jerkily gestured at Jun at his side. Sho didn’t have time to dwell on his friend’s apparent new nickname, however, “And the two of you will take me and Oh-chan away. Even someone as friendly as Masaki won’t appreciate having to play nice with the person who caused him to lose his family. Just leave him alone.”

There was no place for argument. Feeling terrible again, Sho followed his familiar away but chanced one more look back. His heart clenched at the broken look in the tall fae’s eyes as he watched them walk away.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sho and his familiar were sitting together on a tree that had grown bent low to the ground somewhere at the outskirts of the village, just staring at the forest before them in silence. Jun had cleverly found an excuse to leave the pair alone to talk somewhere along the way. Honestly, Sho had barely noticed his friend’s retreat. He had been too concentrated on his familiar and the thoughts swirling in his own head.

After the revelation earlier, he could truly understand the anger that Nino felt towards him and the situation in general. Even if the petite fae hadn’t been loath to leave his own home, he obviously would have felt awful for leaving such a precious to him person alone. And that was on top of all the other reasons that Nino had pointed out yesterday…

“He’s the sort of person that everyone can’t help but love,” Nino unexpectedly broke the quiet, “The villagers will take care of him once we’re gone. They won’t let him feel alone,” he said, but he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than just explain it to Sho.

“I’m sorry,” the mage offered, even as he knew the apology wouldn’t make anything better, “You’re right. We mages don’t consider any of this when we come for you. I was ignorant and I’m thankful to you for giving me a chance to understand it better. I’m willing to do anything I can to make it better somehow.”

Nino snorted, but the sound lacked any anger or maliciousness this time. It was just… resigned. He swung his legs back and forth absent-mindedly.

“You sure are set on making it difficult for me to hate you, aren’t you? I can’t even continue to resent you at all if you’re so understanding,” he smiled sadly, still staring unblinkingly ahead of himself, “It would almost be better if you would continue to refuse to see it my way. If you were unwilling to do anything about it, it wouldn’t be so frustrating that there is no _way_ to do it. But that’s the reality. Despite my accusations yesterday, it’s not like you can stay here with me. Humans can’t stay in our village. And it’s not like I have a choice about staying close to you either. I’ve known for a long time that this would come. You’d think it would be easier since I had time to prepare for it, but it’s not. I didn’t expect Ohno to get bonded too, after all. It only complicated things further.”

Nino was sounding desperate now and Sho felt a deep need to comfort his companion, but he didn’t know how. Hesitantly, he reached out and covered a hand of Nino’s that was close to him with his own. The fae tensed for a moment and Sho was afraid he would just shake it off, but after a couple of seconds, Nino turned his hand over and grasped at Sho’s hand tightly.

“You know,” the mage started slowly and quietly, “That’s unusual. That you knew you were someone’s familiar. That you knew I was coming and used it to have me walking in circles for months.”

Nino actually giggled at the reminder of this. It appeared that the cheeky fae didn’t regret wasting so much of the mage’s time at all. Sho found himself unable to mind it and was just glad to see Nino smile happily in this situation, even if for a small moment.

“The Fae don’t usually know if they’re anyone’s familiar until they’re actually found,” he finally got to his point and Nino squeezed his hand slightly tighter.

“I know,” he whispered.

“And the link I was following to you, that was unusual too you know,” Sho continued, “I’ve not heard of anything quite as direct. I even did some research into it before I left the college, but there was no record of anything similar.”

Sho looked at Nino then, to see how he was reacting to his words, but the fae was just stubbornly keeping his own eyes away from the man at his side.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about it while I traveled,” Sho talked on, not averting his gaze, “It’s not like the helping spell could have had a stronger effect on me than anyone else, after all, the professor that cast it did it the same as for everyone. And she’s been doing it for years, the idea that she had made some sort of error while casting it on me specifically is highly unlikely.

“So I thought about it a lot, but it wasn’t until last night, after talking to you, that it finally came to me,” the mage finally got to his point, “That the whole thing would make sense if there was something interfering with it and amplifying it that hadn’t been taken in consideration. Like, for example, something as weird as there being another pre-destined bond between us, besides the one between a mage and a familiar. And there’s not many types of _those_ in existence. In fact, I can only think of _one_ that would explain everything…”

Sho trailed off then, not actually naming his suspicion out loud. But from the way Nino curled onto himself, he knew that the way knew what he meant perfectly well.

“It’s unusual,” Sho said the word for the third time in as many minutes, “A fae and a human…”

Nino shifted beside him and Sho fell silent when he realized the fae had moved closer to him.

“I know.”

At Nino’s tiny-voiced answer Sho smiled and put an arm around the boy’s shoulders. With a sigh, Nino leaned onto him and they spent the rest of the time there without any more talking.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sho knew that Nino hadn’t let his guard down around him completely yet, but as Sho waited for his injuries to heal fully, the two of them spent their days together, getting to know each other better. And although his bonded was obviously weighed down by the knowledge of what was coming, Sho couldn’t help but enjoy every moment of their time together.

Sometimes they were joined by Jun and the other mage’s familiar as well, and Sho caught his friend throwing him knowing glances as well. Weather the younger mage had also truly figured out the unique situation between Nino and him, Sho didn’t know, but he wouldn’t have been surprised if he had. Jun could be very sharp when he wanted, and he sure was smart enough to put the clues together if he noticed them.

There was one other person that Sho sometimes caught looking at them, though. Nino’s friend Masaki never came close to Sho or showed any interest in introducing himself officially, but the mage would sometimes notice the tall fae staring at them sadly from a distance when they walked around the village together. He didn’t know if he should do something about it himself, but when he brought it up, Nino just told him to let it be. And since it was easier than figuring out what he could do, Sho listened.

He didn’t know whether things would have turned out differently if he had done something after all. But on the fifth evening of his stay in the village, Nino burst into his room just as he was getting ready to sleep. The small fae was wild-eyed and pale and there were tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He clutched a note in his hand which he thrust in Sho’s face as soon as he was close enough.

“Masaki decided to leave the village for a while, because he found it too hard to watch us knowing we’d leave soon,” Nino revealed the note’s contents before Sho could even start reading, however, “He wrote not to worry, but Sho… there have been rumors of fae hunters hanging around recently again. What if they got him, Sho, what if he was kidnapped because of me? I need to-“

“Shhh,” Sho interrupted Nino’s panicked rant, grabbing the smaller man by his upper arms and making him stand still, “First of all, if it happened, it wasn’t by any fault of _yours_ ,” he stated strictly and seriously, “And secondly… We can find him, still. I saw him a couple hours ago, he couldn’t have left long ago and-“

But Nino was tearfully shaking his head.

“Those people know what they’re doing, they have ways…” he spoke, rushed, “No one has been able to return after being kidnapped, Sho! I know there were even attempts to hire mages to help sometimes, but they have nothing to base their locating spells on and it always fails. Those fae become lost forever and-“

“Nino!” Sho interrupted again, somehow managing to keep his cool and think clearly, “We can do this. We _do_ have something to base a spell on,” he reminded the boy but the fae just looked up at him uncomprehendingly, “You grew up with him, didn’t you? You count him as family, so you have a connection to him through that. Of course, if you were just my familiar, it wouldn’t help much. But if you’re also my soulmate, as we suspect, then I can access it as long as you let me in,” Sho explained gently, “And then, because of the strength of our magic I can cast the spell. Do you understand?”

His words did seem to get through to the panicked man just enough to get him to slowly calm him down. Nino tremblingly took a few deep breaths to get steadier before he finally managed to get a grip on himself and looked up to look at his mage and partner with determination.

“How do we do this?” he asked and Sho smiled.

“Like this,” he said and bent down to capture Nino’s lips with his own.

He was going to set this right. He was going to set _all of this_ right. And as he kissed his predestined mate and allowed his mind get enveloped by thoughts and feelings that weren’t his, Sho finally had the confidence that as long as he and the person in his arms stayed together, they would always find a way to do it too.

Because they were unusual. And they were more powerful than anyone else because of it.

 

_~*~Two years later~*~_

 

Sho stared at his Alma Mater in wonder, unable to believe how far he has come since the last time he had set foot in this building. He had started out as a boy that though he owned the world just because he was slightly above average among his peers. And now he was a man who could truly be proud of himself and his work.

He had returned to his old college with an actual invitation to hold a seminar and tell its students all about his line of work. It made him incredibly happy to know that people were finally starting to learn about the terrible crimes that were being committed against magical creatures all around the world, instead of all of it being quietly swept under a carpet as had been the norm when he himself had been a student. And all of it was because he and the rest of his little team had devoted their lives on saving the victims of such crimes and spreading the word about it to raise awareness. Sho’s old dream of making the world a better place had actually come true, even if the progress was slow.

“What are you thinking so about with such a serious look on your face?” Nino suddenly woke him from his thoughts by slipping under his arm and pressing himself to his side, “You look ridiculous.”

The mage chuckled and snaked his arm around his lover’s and familiar’s waist to hold him close.

“Mostly about how weird it is that Aiba being so stupid and getting himself kidnapped ended up making things turn out so well,” he explained.

“Oi!” The fae whose name he had just mentioned protested indignantly as he came to stand on Sho’s other side, “I resent that rendition of events!”

“No, no, I personally think it’s a very accurate description of what happened,” Jun came to Sho’s aid as he and his own familiar joined the small group standing in front of the college building, “It’s a good thing Sho decided to bring you along with us after saving you. Who knows how many times you would have got into similar troubles if we weren’t there to keep you out of it.”

As two of his friends started bickering over it, Sho just tuned them out in favor of leaning over to press a kiss on his mate’s head. He could feel happiness and contentment rippling through the bond connecting the two of them. Even after two years had passed, he knew that Nino sometimes still thought back to their beginning, to the anxiousness he had felt at the disappearance of his friend and the relief when Sho invited Aiba to come together with them, as a solution against leaving the tall fae behind alone.

The cheeky fae never said it out loud, but he was intensely grateful to his mate for the consideration he had shown at the time.

Suddenly, the door of the building before them and a handsome man that Sho recognized immediately walked out to greet them.

“Ikuta-kun!” he grinned, stepping forward to shake hands with the man that he had once studied with, “You’re teaching here?” he inquired curiously and the man smiled sheepishly.

“Just as an assistant professor, but yes. Didn’t really have anything better to do after graduation,” he explained before offering his hand to the fae clinging to Sho’s side, “Your familiar, I presume?”

“Yes, this is Nino,” Sho introduced before gesturing at the others, “You’ll remember Jun, of course and that’s his familiar Ohno. And finally Aiba, another fae that has been keeping us compa-“

He was interrupted suddenly by a bright flash of light that got triggered the moment Ikuta went in for a handshake with Aiba. The two were staring at their clasped hands in amazement.

“Oh…” Sho said stupidly. Somehow, he wasn’t even surprised.


End file.
